A New Beginning
by oldshowaddict2015
Summary: Takes place after the show. Laverne is mourning the loss of an old friend, as another comes to mourn with her. They begin talking, and realize, after all these years, what they had done wrong...


_This is simply fanfiction, written for my own entertainment and everyone else's. I do not plan on making a profit or anything on this. Just written for fun ;) enjoy! R&R all you like, just no flames. I have not seen all the seasons of Laverne & Shirley, and I'm barely dipping my toes into the fandom. I do know Shirley gets married to this Walter guy and there's some Rhonda chick that apparently talks about herself in third person and the gang all move out to California, but I've only seen seasons 1-5, since that's all I have. But I do plan on seeing the others soon!_

/

She was gone.

Sure, she'd been gone for a while. But this time, she was _gone_,gone. None of that "I'll see you later" bullshit ever happened again. Because there was no later this time. No. Not this time.

Shirley Feeney-Meany  
>1940-2028<br>Beloved Wife, Mother, and Friend.

The older woman stood there, staring at the gravestone in disbelief. Shirley. _Her _Shirley was gone. The young kid she grew up with and roomed with for a while was gone. The woman who, for years, was like her sister, was gone. It was like a huge chunk of her heart was ripped out.

Laverne DeFazio (Laverne Anderson before her divorce) stood at the grave, the angry rumbles from above telling her that another storm was threatening to start. She sighed, bringing her coat tighter around her frail frame. It wasn't exactly as heavy as she preferred it to be, but it kept the majority of the cold and biting wind out and that was good enough for her. She pulled the collar up, trying to keep the cold from hitting her face. _Of all the times to die, Shirl, you had to go in the middle of winter when it's colder than Milwaukee during Christmas. Why couldn't you have gone in the summer? That way I wouldn't be turning into a fuckin' icicle.  
><em>It wasn't snowing. Snow was nowhere near in the forecast for New York, odd for this time of year. It was just above freezing, around 37 or 38 degrees outside. The wind didn't help her case at all, and though it was light, it was enough to cause goose bumps.  
>The funeral was quick. Short and sweet. All of Shirley's kids were there, along with their husbands or wives (depending on which kid you were talking about) and their children. Some friends that Laverne had never met; she figured Shirley had met them while they were moving around. A few of them looked at her with distaste, but Laverne didn't let that faze her. In fact, she was used to it. She had gotten so many of those same looks in school. The old Laverne, the young one, would've knocked them to Peoria and back; the new Laverne, well... She learned to just shake it off. What did it matter what people thought of her? It mattered what she thought of herself, but those... Those... Snobs who thought that they were better than everyone else? They didn't count. They didn't like anyone who didn't, at least, have half a million dollars in their bank account. It was people like them that made Laverne sick, and made her question what kind of people Shirley was hanging around after she got married. She knew their calls were getting less and less frequent (after all, people <em>do <em>drift apart) but she never knew what kind of company she was keeping.  
>Now she knew why Shirley never called as often as she used to.<p>

Laverne and Carmine were the only two there from Shirley's high school days attending the funeral. They both figured that practically everyone else had died (save for Lenny Kosnowski and possibly Andrew Squigman (Squiggy to friends); Carmine had called him, and he said he'd be there, but never showed up).He held Laverne's hand with an iron grip, almost, and she understood why. Shirley was his Angelface, his first love. Sure they never vodey-oh-doed, but he loved her with all his heart, and he was willing to go to the ends of the Earth for her. She remembered the many times that she came home, and Shirley and Carmine were on the couch, his arms around her waist and hers around his neck as they kissed. It would've led to more, and God knows her and Carmine both wanted it to, but Shirley's "Mm-mm" would always break that kind of a moment. Carmine would answer with an "Mm-hm" and it would go back and forth until Shirley pulled away, and casually suggested that Carmine go up to his own apartment and take a cold shower. Carmine's annoyed groan was all Laverne needed to hear to know when their date was over, and it was really safe to escape the room, where she would read a book or one of her magazines.

She remembered hearing him sobbing quietly beside her, his brown eyes filled to the brim with tears. His hair still had that curly texture to it, except now it looked to be a very dull grey, and it was thinning on the top. He was no longer The Big Ragoo. Carmine said he had dropped that title long ago, after he left for New York. He said now that he was simply "Carmine Ragusa, husband, father, and retired performer." His dreams had become a reality a few years after he started his career in the Broadway musical "Hair", and he had met a young woman there, named Caroline Winters, who was one of the backstage hands. After just three weeks of going together, they got married in a quick ceremony, held by the Justice of the Peace with only Caroline's sister there to be the witness. A few years into the marriage, the couple had their only biological child, a young girl named Susanne. Susanne apparently had her father's talent, but threw it all away in high school when she met a young boy and got pregnant by him. She now lived in Jersey, supporting herself and her three kids—"All by different men," Carmine had added at the very end—by working two jobs. When Susanne was three, they adopted a little boy named Robert, who came from a broken home. Carmine said he had pretty bad separation anxiety, but by the time he was five, he had gotten over it. After him, they adopted two twin girls, Casey and Stacy ("Well their biological parents really weren't that creative, were they?" Laverne remembered making the snarky comment that made Carmine laugh a little).

He had been the last to leave Shirley's grave, and the tears were still rolling down his cheeks. It had sprinkled off and on during the service, but never did it downpour. Carmine promised to meet her later at a restaurant down the road a ways, to catch up a little more, maybe go down memory lane. He said the pizza was good, but it was nothing like the Pizza Bowl. Laverne had smiled sadly, remembering her Pop behind the counter of that restaurant, shouting orders to Tony and Mary and constantly covered in pizza dough. "No," she had answered while shaking her head, "there would never be anything that came close to the Pizza Bowl."

She could hear footsteps, shuffling footsteps, coming towards her. Laverne paid no mind. She figured it was someone coming to visit a deceased relative. But when the footsteps stopped near her, she couldn't help but look over. It was a man, who seemed to be staring at the headstone in as much disbelief, or more, as she was. They said nothing for a few moments, not to the headstone or to each other. The man used to be tall, though he was beginning to slouch, much like she was now (and had all her life). He was lanky, though, his body reminding her of a string bean almost. Well, maybe not a string bean. But something that was tall and skinny. His hair was silver, almost white, and thinning on the top. She looked back at the grave.

"She was something else, you know that?" her voice sounded almost foreign to her, like she had heard it for the very first time. It sounded a little deeper than when she was younger. She cursed the cigarettes that she smoked back in the seventies (and didn't quit smoking until the early 2000's). Laverne's eyes went back to the headstone. "When I got the call from Carmine I just..." She shook her head.

"He called me too." The man said quietly. Laverne looked at him again. The wind picked up, making her hair (now snow white) lightly caress her across the face. Her eyes, a vivid green, were the only thing about her that really stood out anymore.

"You know Carmine?"

"Of course I know Carmine." The man scoffed a little, and Laverne could see the edge of a smirk that was on his face. Pieces then began to come together. "Honestly, Laverne." The voice soon became familiar as well. "We went to high school together, remember?" he looked at her. The man's bright eyes were bluer than ever, but instead of being filled of childlike innocence, they were filled with wisdom and knowledge of the world. Laverne felt her heart flutter, something it hadn't done since the last year of her marriage.

"Lenny..."

The man couldn't hold his chuckle in. "About time you recognized me."

"I'm sorry; I just haven't seen you since the sixties. You've changed. In more ways than one." Laverne couldn't suppress the smile she got from the sight of her old friend. Then it went away. "How come you weren't at the funeral?"

"I couldn't make it in time. My flight got delayed. Fuckin' pilots don't have any idea what they're doing nowadays..." Lenny muttered the last part very quietly. Laverne nodded, silent.

"Did Squiggy come with you?" She asked after a moment. Lenny stiffened up, drawing his own coat around him a little tighter. "What?"

"It's just cold..." She could tell that Lenny was avoiding the question.

"Do you want to go and sit in my car? I've got a pretty good heater."

"Sure." Lenny sighed quietly. Laverne started to leave, but placed a hand on the headstone.

"Bye, Shirl. I promise I'll visit every week. Maybe twice if I have the time. And I'll fill you in on all of the juicy gossip." She started to walk off, but her hand lingered a second more on the headstone before she and Lenny made their way to the old, 2004 dark blue Kia. After the doors were unlocked, the two got in and Laverne automatically started the car and turned the heater on. "Give it a few minutes, it'll warm up."

"I believe you." Lenny nodded. Laverne looked at him and shook her head. "What?"

"I don't know. It's just you... You look so much mature. So much—"

"Older?" The man raised an eyebrow. The former bottle capper nodded.

"Yeah. And I mean you act older too. Not just your looks. You act a lot more mature than you used to."

"Things happen, Vernie. People change. Time marches on and the next thing you know, you're not that young kid you used to be."

Laverne sighed. "Tell me about it..." Thunder boomed quietly in the distance, the storm getting closer and closer with each passing second. "It seems just like yesterday we graduated high school, doesn't it?"

"Yeah..." Lenny smiled. Laverne started giggling. "What?"

"Do you remember? We were at the Pizza Bowl, having our graduation celebration. Carmine was singing and dancing, his usual. Shirley and I were just trying to enjoy our pizza, and you and Squiggy decided to torment my Pop by standing on the counter and dancing." Lenny's smile turned into a slightly sad one as Laverne continued. "My Pop finally got you down by waving the broom around. You two were so scared he'd hit you that you both jumped off, and fell on top of each other." It was hard to suppress her laughter. But it soon went away when she saw the sad look on her friend's face. "Len?"

"I'm fine." Lenny said quietly.

"But are you?" Laverne's tone matched his. Lenny didn't answer her and Laverne bit her lip. "Lenny..." she started, her voice soft. "Where's Squiggy?" she remembered the two always together, practically joined by the hip, just like her and Shirley. It was odd to see one without the other. Before, it usually meant that they had had a fight. This time, from the look in Lenny's eyes, it was so much more.

"He's gone."

"Gone as in..."

"Gone as in dead." Lenny's voice was quieter than ever before. Laverne had to strain her ears to hear it. "He died three years ago."

"Lenny, I'm so sorry. If I had known—"

"I know. You would've come, right?"

"I would have at least called. But I would've tried my hardest to come, yes."

"I wanted to call. I just didn't have your number or anythin'."

"It's okay. I understand..." Laverne's heart dropped into the pit of her stomach. She couldn't believe that Squiggy was gone. For such a small guy, he sure made himself seen and heard. Whether it be his voice, his antics, or even his personality at times, Squiggy made sure that he made his presence known. She remembered him as everyone from their school days did, and even a while afterwards. Black hair combed and greased back into a ducktail with that little curl stuck on his forehead (unless Shirley got the idea to take it and twist it whenever he didn't listen to her or whenever he pissed her off, which was almost daily). The black leather jacket, purple button down shirt that was always buttoned halfway to show that black undershirt he always wore, blue jeans and those dirty black Converse that he wore practically everywhere.

The tears sprung to Laverne's eyes, and she wished that Squiggy, just one more time, would come up to her and say "Hello!" in that flat, nasal tone he always had. Her hand shot up to her mouth and she shut her eyes for a second before opening them again to see Lenny look out the window.

"What happened?" Laverne's voice was shaking. _Shaking_. Because she just lost one of her best guy friends. She never admit it to anyone, but Squiggy was one of her best guy friends. Just going down memory lane made her really realize that.

"Cancer." Lenny nodded slightly. "Apparently he'd had it for a while. Doctors said it was everywhere, there was nothing they could do for him. They just said to make him comfortable. He wasn't going to be around much longer. Week later, he was gone. Went in his sleep."

Laverne took his hand in hers, holding it as tightly as she could. "Lenny, that's terrible. I'm so sorry. I should've known..."

"How?" Lenny looked at her. "I didn't say nothing about it."

"I know, but when I saw that he wasn't with you... well... I should've known..."

They sat there in silence for a moment. Their hands continued to be clasped together, Laverne's thumb lightly stroking Lenny's hand. After a few minutes, the heater began to kick in. The car soon filled with warmth, and not too long after a raindrop hit the windshield. Many others soon began to follow until it looked like streaks on the glass.

"Len?"

"Hm?"

"Did you ever get married?"

"I did. Her name was Sally." He smiled, fondly.

"Yeah?" Laverne started to grin.

"Yeah. She always had this funny habit of twiddling her thumbs whenever she was talking. And believe it or not, she was the very first woman I met that never screamed when she met Jeffery."

"No kiddin'?" Laverne's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Yeah, surprised me too." Lenny gave her a slight smile. "We were married twenty six years." He nodded.

"What happened?"

"She wanted a divorce. She met some pro ball player and off she went. Left everything behind, including the kids. Haven't gotten a call or letter since."

"How many kids?"

"Three. Two boys and a girl." He looked at her, his blue eyes meeting her green. "What about you?"

"Well, there's not much to tell. Except I married this guy, this Anthony Anderson, and we left and moved to Arizona for a while. A few months into the marriage, I got pregnant with George and a few years after that I had Jennifer. We seemed to be the picture perfect family. At least until we moved to Montana in the mid-nineties. That's when it all went to shit."

"What happened?" Lenny drew his eyebrows together, and Laverne swore that there was a glimmer of his younger self in his eyes when he did that.

"I caught him cheating." Laverne thinned her lips a little. "It was with a woman who was about twenty, twenty five years younger than me. I know if Pop were there, he woulda beat Anthony to a pulp for that. Anyway, he left me for that bimbo. We kept in touch because of the kids, and we tried our best to be civil but he _always _was starting shit. I finally just washed my hands of him, I was tired of it. I couldn't take it anymore."

"Did you ever remarry?"

"Nope." She shook her head. "I gave that man the best years of my life, and he just threw them away, tossed me and the kids to the side like we was nothin'. I couldn't let that happen again. Sure, I had boyfriends here and there, but it wasn't anything serious. Just a few flings that never went past "The Morning After"."

"Vernie...?" Lenny's voice was quiet again. He sounded almost like a timid little child, and it made her think of the days back in Milwaukee, when they were young, happy, and carefree. Whenever Lenny spoke like that back then, it was always something serious.

"Yeah, Len?"

"You always talked about finding your Mr. Right. You and Shirley both." He looked her in the eyes. "You would always talk about how you wanted this guy that was just perfect. A guy that made a lot of money, and was a well-trained professional."

"Well, Len..." Laverne shook her head a few times. "That was only Shirley. She was the dreamer. She wanted the doctor husband, the suburban colonial home with her three kids, her husband, and their collie named Dave. Me? I wanted the perfect guy, but my standards were never as high as hers. They never had been."

"Oh..." Lenny nodded, and sat there in silence for a few seconds before continuing what he was saying earlier. "I was just thinking, on the plane ride over here, if we knew exactly who our Mr. and Miss Right was, and they was right under our noses, but never realized it until our marriages went down the tubes."

"Yeah, I think about that too..." the older woman nodded. She finally took a look at Lenny's jacket, and saw that it wasn't the Lone Wolf one he had so many years ago. "What happened to your old jacket?"

"My Lone Wolf one?"

"Yeah."

Lenny blinked, furrowing his eyebrows, trying his best to remember. "I think either my ex-wife burnt it, or Jeffery took it." Laverne did her best to hold her laughter in before Lenny shook his head. "Oh, no, not Jeffery the iguana. Jeffery my son."

Laverne couldn't help it. She began to laugh anyway.

"And before you ask, no," Lenny continued. "I did not name my son after my stuffed iguana. His mother wanted to name him that, and I named our first child, so it was fair trade."

"No, no..." Laverne kept laughing. "I just keep picturing that stupid iguana trying to wear your jacket."

Lenny sat there for a second, picturing it as well. After a few seconds, he began laughing. His laugh had not changed from the guffaw he'd always had growing up. The sight of the iguana became more and more hysterical to the two, who were still holding hands, even though it wasn't that funny.

A few minutes passed before they could officially calm down without the occasional giggle or chuckle. When they had Laverne looked at their hands, still clasped together. She then looked up at Lenny, who was smiling at himself, possibly remembering one of his many pranks he pulled as a young man. It was at the moment that something inside her finally clicked, and everything made sense.

She was always more willing to forgive Lenny than Shirley was. She had no idea why that was, maybe because she was nicer than Shirley when she wanted to be, or maybe it was always because, deep down, she had always liked him.

"Lenny?"

"What?" Lenny looked at her again, the memory was thinking of being put on hold for a moment.

"Why do you think our marriages never worked out?" her voice was quiet.

"Well..." Lenny thought to himself as he looked out the windshield. It was kind of a tough question. And it was hard to admit to himself that, after all these years, he still had a head-over-heels crush for that girl—woman—ever since the second grade when he saw her knock one of boys out with one punch for picking on him. Ever since then, Lenny had been crazy about her. "Maybe.. In my case anyway... We each loved someone that we couldn't have." Laverne nodded and felt Lenny's grip on her hand tighten just a bit. He looked at her again, and it was then that she realized. "I know really didn't say nothin' about it—and I think part of that was because I knew your Pop would probably come after me if I did—because I figured... y'know... you didn't like me back."

"I didn't think you liked me like that." Her voice was quiet. Thunder boomed again, louder than before, and the rain started to come down faster.

"Of course I did. Why did you think I asked you to marry me all the time? I knew I didn't have much to offer, at least back then, but..."

"I thought you were just messing with me."

"Why would I joke about something like that?" Lenny raised an eyebrow. Laverne shrugged, dumbly, her mouth open just a bit. Suddenly, something hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Lenny, what time is it?"

Lenny looked around for the clock in the car before seeing the one of the dashboard. Laverne followed his eyes and saw the clock. 2:47. Shit.

"Oh, I have to go. I have meet Carmine at this pizza place. Do you have somewhere where I could drop you off? I don't want to leave you out here in this storm."

"I'm staying at a Holiday Inn not too far from here." Lenny answered, clearing his throat a little. Suddenly, Laverne got an idea.

"Hang on, better yet..." she grabbed her phone and dialed Carmine's number. "Hello, Carmine?"

"_Laverne? Where the hell are you?_" Carmine's voice rang out from the other end. It wasn't accusatory, mainly just plain curiosity.

"I'm still at the cemetery. You'll never guess who finally showed up."

"_Lenny?_"

"Yeah. He showed up after the service."

"_What took him so long? I called him enough time in advance._"

"His flight was delayed. Look, Carmine, I was wonderin'... Could Lenny have pizza with us? He's already with me, and I don't want to leave him alone."

Lenny opened his mouth to protest, but Laverne quickly cut him off by holding up her hand.

"_Sure, that'd be fine. Just make sure you're not late. You know where to go?_"

"Yeah... At least I think so. All I gotta do is put it in my phone."

"_Alright. The place is called Vito's Pizza Palace_. _You got it_?"

"Yeah. I got it." Laverne smiled a little.

"_Alright, I'll see you soon_."

"Okay." Laverne smiled a little and hung up. She went to her GPS on her phone with Lenny looking over her shoulder.

"Ooh, fancy." He smiled. Laverne laughed a little before opening the GPS system on her phone and entering the name of the restaurant. After a second, she set it down and let it start talking to her as she began driving.

"Hey, Lenny, how come you don't got a car?"

"I can't drive no more." Lenny said simply.

"Why not?"

"Doctor said that I better not, not with my eyes the way they are."

"How do you get around?"

"Usually I fly or I get a taxi. Sometimes Kari gives me a lift somewhere—that's my daughter—but I usually just stay at home anyway. I ain't got a job or nothin', so it's not a big deal."

Laverne winced slightly to herself, trying not to shake her head. She always remembered Lenny as the Shotz truck driver, with Squiggy always by his side. Now, knowing he can't drive, just killed her even more. She hated getting old. Everyone started getting sick or started dying. It was just bullshit. Pure bullshit.

The rest of the drive was quiet, and when Laverne parked the car, she looked over at Lenny.

"Hey, Len?" Laverne looked at him. Lenny looked at her. "I don't know if... You know... But if you'd want to give us a chance, I would love to try."

"You mean... Us as a couple?"

"If that's alright..."

Gingerly, as if Laverne were some priceless artifact, Lenny placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her softly.

Something inside Laverne exploded then. It was as if the universe was finally going her way.

When they pulled away, they looked in each other's eyes, and there for God knows how long.

Maybe this would be a new chapter in their lives. A happier one.

A new beginning.


End file.
